Murder Takes Time (31 page)

I sighted her in again, locked the crosshairs onto her head. She was almost to the curb, kind of bouncing in a half-jog type gait that teachers seemed to do in order to hustle kids along. When she got to the curb, she stopped, staring at the three kids she had just brought across.

“Where’s Timmy?”

One of the kids turned to her, “He’s coming.”

“All right, you go in,” she said. “I’ll wait here.”

It was perfect—her standing still, no kids around. I fixed the crosshairs one last time, then reached for the trigger. Her eyes were deep brown, and big, the kind that invited you in. And she had a long straight nose with a slight bump on it. It was a little big for a girl, but I’d seen worse.

Just as I put pressure on the trigger, she took her right index finger and twirled her necklace. I stopped. I squeezed my eyes closed then opened them again. After adjusting to the light, I focused. Then came that feeling in my stomach, twisting my gut inside out. And there was Gina, twirling that damn necklace and sliding the charm back and forth across her chin. All the while she stood on tiptoes, neck craned, looking for her lost kid like he was the damn prodigal son.

Fuck.
Why did she have to be a twirler?
Angie
was a twirler. She used to twirl her hair all the time. Take her index finger and wrap it around a few strands of hair at the back of her neck and then just twirl. When Gina did that with her necklace, all I could think of was Angie.

Slowly, I let go of the trigger. Even slower, I disassembled the gun and packed it up. The walk back to the car seemed endless. I threw my life away once before for an oath nobody seemed to care about. Now I had my life back…but if I didn’t kill Gina, I was a dead man.

CHAPTER 48

TOUGH DECISIONS

Hershey, Pennsylvania—20 Months Ago

A
t the motel that night, I sat and pondered. For the tenth time, I reminded myself that if I didn’t do this contract, my life was over. At the very best, I’d have to go into hiding. More likely, I’d be dead. But every time I thought about pulling the trigger, I saw Angela’s face. Angela’s smile. Heard her laugh. Smelled her. Tasted her.

I punched the bed. Then punched it more. How could anybody’s life be so fucked up? I walked to the dresser and reached into the bag. The letter from Angie was in that briefcase, calling me.

Find me, Nicky. No matter where I am, find me.

I punched the bed again.
Fucking coward.
Fearless Nicky the Rat, scared to go see her, and hear she left me to fuck somebody else.

The letter helped me make up my mind, though. That, and thoughts of those kids playing. No way I was killing her in front of those kids. I waited until 2:00 AM, crept out the door, checking to make sure the lights were out, then sneaked out into the night. A phone booth was maybe a quarter mile away, so I jogged there and dialed Debbie Small’s number. She didn’t answer until the seventh ring.

“Hello?”

“Gina?”

“Who is this?” Panic was in her voice, though it was tainted by sleep.

“My name isn’t important. Tito Martelli sent me to kill you.”

I heard the gasp, then what sounded like a squeal. “How did you find me?”

“I’m not here to kill you. Not anymore. But if you want to live, you need to follow my orders.” I waited until the sobbing stopped. “Do you understand?”

“Okay, what? What do you want me to do?”

“Listen closely. Get your money and anything else you need into two small bags. Also get the evidence you have on Tito.” I waited through another series of gasps, then heard a creaking noise. It sounded like attic steps being pulled down.

“Gina, listen to me. There isn’t time. Get the money out of the attic later, if that is what you’re doing. This is no joke. I was supposed to kill you today. I didn’t. But if you don’t listen to everything I say, you’ll be dead before noon.”

“Okay. Okay. Go on.”

“Tomorrow at morning recess you will hear a gunshot. When you hear it, fall down. Don’t run. Don’t scream. Don’t do anything but fall down.” I paused. “Do you understand?”

“Fall down when I hear the shot.”

“That’s right.”

“What about the children? I don’t want them scared.”

“They won’t even know what’s going on. They’ll probably think it’s a firecracker or something. You’ll know the shot when you hear it though, and when you do, fall down.”

“Okay, then what?”

“This is going to be difficult. It will require all of your concentration.”

“Okay.”

“Once you’re down, count to thirty. Slowly. Make each one a second if you can.”

“You mean like one, one-thousand…”

“That’s exactly what I mean. Count to thirty. Then get up and walk away.”

“Where?”

“There will be a crowd. People will be looking around for what the noise was. No matter what happens, walk away quickly. Don’t run, and don’t take your car. Walk through the neighborhood. Keep going until you find a place where you can call a cab. Do
not
use your cell phone. Do
not
call anyone you know. After tomorrow, Debbie Small is dead, do you understand?”

“How will I—”

“Just listen. Go to your house. Get the money and the bags then take the cab to the bus station. You don’t need ID to ride the bus. Take it to Wilmington, Delaware. Go to St. Elizabeth’s and ask for Sister Mary Thomas. Tell her that Nicky sent you, and that he asked to keep you safe until he calls.
Remember
, tell her Nicky sent you.”

There was a long silence before she spoke. I heard her whispering, probably writing it down. “Bus station. Wilmington. St. Elizabeth’s. Sister Thomas.” She sighed. “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know he’ll kill you.”

“Sometimes you have to do what you think is right.”

“When will I see you? I don’t even know what you look like.”

“It’s better that way. I’ll be in touch with Sister Thomas. She’ll keep you safe.”

As I hung up the phone, I heard, “Thank you, Nicky.” It sounded sweet.

I
WATCHED THE KIDS
playing. Kids were the same the world over. At that age, they had so much innocence. I laughed. Even we were innocent then. The thought brought sadness with it. I focused on the issue at hand. Gina was nervous, but she was doing good. I checked the binoculars and saw Chicky and Donnie watching. No way they could see me, though.

Get ready, Gina.

I aimed, focused on her head, then raised the sights by several feet, making sure nothing was behind her. I squeezed the trigger smoothly. The shot boomed, went well over her head and into a brick wall. Several kids screamed. Gina went down.

Good girl.
I moved quickly through the woods. By the time I exited, the gun was back in the briefcase. I checked the road, saw no one, and headed for the car. There was a lot still to do.

C
HICKY DROPPED HIS COFFEE
when the gun went off. “Jesus Christ, Donnie, she’s down. She’s down.”

Donnie turned, head darting in every direction. “Get out of here, Chicky. We can’t hang around.”

Chicky popped the car in gear and headed out, taking a quick right turn to get to the main roads.

“Never even saw him, did you?” Donnie asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

“Not even a peek,” Chicky said. “Just as well. I don’t want to know who it is.”

F
IRST THING
I
DID
was call Dexter, a guy I made friends with in prison. He had a brother who worked at the Philly paper and had connections everywhere. Anxiety ate at me. This was something I should have planned beforehand.

“Yo.”

I could tell it was him when he answered. Nobody said “yo” quite like Dexter.

“Dex, it’s Nicky.”

A short silence, then. “Nicky the Rat. How ’bout that shit. What can the Dex do for you?”

“I need a story planted in the Hershey, Pennsylvania, paper.”

“Might have to pull in favors to do this. Might take some grease.”

“Just tell me what you need, Dex. And I’ll owe you one.”

“Tell me how you want it to read.”

I gave him the details. He said he’d get back to me. Three hours later, he did. “All taken care of. Gonna cost you five hundred.”

“Give me an address. And I meant that about owing you one. Just let me know.”

I put $1,000 in an envelope and addressed it to Dexter. Paying him extra would ensure the best service in the future, and it just might help buy his silence if it came to that. I made one more call before leaving—to Sister Mary Thomas. When I got hold of her, I told her to expect Gina.

“Nicky, I cannot be involved in illegal activities.”

“Sister, if you trust me, please listen. Hide her for a few days. Put her with a friend or get her a motel room. Don’t let her use her own name or any identification. Within a few days, she’ll have instructions in a letter I’m sending you.”

I waited through a few seconds of silence, then Sister Thomas’ voice came through. “Tell her not to worry. And, Nicky…”

“Yes, Sister?”

“Nothing. Be safe. God go with you.”

“You too, Sister. Thanks.”

I got rid of the gun on the way home. Cleaned it up real good, put it in some trash bags and buried it in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Plenty else buried in there. One more gun wouldn’t hurt. A lot of guys liked to keep their guns, but I never did. Keeping guns increased the chances of getting caught. If anyone ever came to my house, I didn’t want a gun tying me to a crime.

When I got home, I wrote the letter, telling Gina what to do and where to go. I finished it with, “Once you get to Indianapolis, find an inexpensive motel. After a week, call Sister Thomas every other day until she tells you she’s heard from me.”

I mailed it miles from my house then went home. Tomorrow was a big day. I just prayed Dexter’s connections came through for me. If not, I’d be dead.

T
ITO SAT AT THE
kitchen table, enjoying his morning cappuccino, a paper open in front of him. When Manny came in, Tito set the paper down. “You check it out?”

Manny nodded. “Chicky saw it go down, and I checked the paper in Hershey. The obituary was there this morning. ‘Debbie Small, teacher at Holy Cross. No relatives.’”

Tito sipped some more cappuccino then looked up, questions on his face. “Nothing in the paper about the shooting.”

“Just a statement that the Feds have it under investigation. You hear that, Tito, the
Feds
. That means they were watching, like you thought. Must have been a trap to get you.”

Tito laughed. “Good old Nicky. I warned Tony he was rolling the dice. Looks like he lost.”

I
WENT TO
T
ITO
the next day, told him that I was quitting, like I said I would. He didn’t take me seriously at first, but after a while he accepted it. I told him I’d like to stay around, maybe get a real union rep job.

He tried convincing me, but when I held firm, he said okay. Said I could stay in my union rep position, but now I’d actually have to work for it. Pay wasn’t going to be great, but that was all right. I had saved a lot, and I now had what Pops left me.

As I was leaving, I turned back to Tito. “I’m going to take a week or two off first, then I’ll be back to start.”

He looked at me funny, then nodded. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you want, Nicky. Call me when you get back.”

As I started for the door, he called. “How much she have left?”

I knew he’d ask sooner or later. I was surprised he’d held out this long. “Almost two hundred.”

“Two hundred.” Greed filled his eyes. “That’s a lot of money for one little job. Maybe—”

“We had a deal, Tito.”

“Yeah, fuck you. How about that.”

He was mumbling as I walked out the door, heading for my car. Still…something didn’t sit right with me. Tito had taken that too easily. I made up my mind to be more alert, at least for the next few months.

For a few days, I did nothing. I made it a point to be seen with Tony and Suit, letting Tito know I was still around. After about a week, I gathered the money I’d hidden in the house and headed out late at night. It was time to go to Indianapolis and help Gina start a new life. I owed her that. If I had just killed her, she would have no worries.

CHAPTER 49